The preparations for fighting the champion of the fifteenth floor took two weeks. The main issue was to gather enough highly skilled adventurers and the Sun Elves warriors. For anyone, it was obvious it wouldn’t be an easy fight. The bear of that large size would be a killing machine, and it was a heavily armored version of it. Also, pillars and boulders, while giving cover and protection to the adventurers, protect the golem from ranged attacks. People were studying the arena's layout with great intensity. Any idea how to use terrain against the golem was taken into consideration. The first attack was a probing one. The general assumptions were confirmed. The golem’s heavy armour was hard to pierce through, but Dungeon Mistress was still able to make him fast and agile. Attacks on its eyes were effective, but it was much harder to make them successful. Covering them with ice or mud was not enough. Golems know how to shake that off. Only destroying them was a permanent solution, and that wasn't an easy task.

  The good news was that any successful attack that pierces through its armour slows it down. It was confirmed a week later when the second raid took place. It wasn’t successful either, but it helps test some ideas on how to hinder its movements. Still, it shows them how meticulously Dungeon Mistress planned this challenge. There wasn’t a chance of destroying this golem without proper preparations and high-level skills. The usual attack, which should be enough to overwhelm such a beast, was not enough. There was consensus among the adventurers that this dungeon was well prepared to fight against cultists. All of them rely on curses and poisons, and they were effective only against living creatures. Also, there wasn’t a way for them to find corpses to replenish the ranks of zombies or other monstrosities. Regrettably, adventurers also had a headache about how to deal with such a champion. The answer for that came three days after the second attempt. When King Alduin woke up, he heard something.

  “What happened?” Itylara asked, seeing him rising from their bedroll.

  “I heard the call.” He answered.

  Itylara’s eyes get wide.

  “Are you sure? No one heard the second call for one hundred years. Not after we forget our duties back then.”

  One hundred years ago, a rebellion and civil war erupted in the Great Desert. It’s a secret kept close by sun elves. When Arch Lich rose, a group of sun elves rebelled against the ruling king and council of elders. No one knows if they were deceived by twisted gods, or their greed pushed them to ally with them, but they used their new twisted power to try to seize control over the desert for themself. The war was short, but brutal, and while most demon summoners lost, the price of the victory was high. Many of the best warriors died or were cripled, and the younger generation was forced to step in to ensure the functioning of their society. That was the reason it was so hard to spot anyone older than two hundred years old. But the worst part was the desecration and destruction of the sacred grounds where animals and magical beasts lived. Only a few such places survived, and the spirit beast became harder to convince to become the partners of the sun elves. This caused many young warriors to be unable to find their companions. And no one ever heard the second call, a phenomenon that has happened frequently in the past. All elves live long, and it was natural that they could find another spirit beast if they proved themself. All of this creates a belief through the sun elves' society that they are punished for forgetting the gods' teachings and failing their duties.

  “I know. But I need to check it. The final war is near, maybe much closer than anyone anticipates. This could be a sign of that.”

  “Do you think we are finally forgiven for what happened back then?”

  “I don’t know. It could be a sign of anything. It could be a rallying call, a test to see if we learn our lesson. If we do, if we don’t fail our duties again, then maybe our children will be able to live unburdened by our mistakes.”

  “Let me help you with preparations. Are you going there directly?”

  “No. I will do it properly. I will go through every floor until I reach the one from where the call is coming.”

  “Yes. It’s the right way.” Itylara agreed. “I will find Naomi and inform her. We will be waiting on the fifth floor.”

  “Please do that. The fifth floor is a bare minimum where I need to go.”

  He needed two days to reach the fifth floor. And he did that only to get the fifth floor early in the morning instead of late at night. He rested properly before going through the fourth floor. When he reached the safe floor, Itylara and Naomi were waiting for him. Both forced him to relax and eat properly before he goes searching for what is calling him. And a few hours later, when he finally found the beast that was waiting for him, he agreed that this was an excellent idea. It was an emperor scorpion, the same one that sometimes carries Naomi on its back. The crowd of the sun elves gathered to witness their fight. Naomi was present too, and only because Itylara held her, she was able to stand and watch. Itylara was full of admiration for Naomi. Dungeon Mistress was shaking from fear, but stood and watched the duel. Itylara was only a little afraid, and for her, it was fear of the consequences of eventual King Alduin's defeat. He wasn’t fighting only for himself right now, but for all sun elves. For the last century, all of them wore masks of pride and noble race, but in reality, their spirit was badly beaten. His victory will mean they can redeem themself, but his defeat could shatter their hopes completely.

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  Naomi was glad that this fight was to assess who had the strongest will and body, rather than being a fight to the death. While both contestants reinforced their attacks with mana, none of them used all their skills to attack their opponent. Otherwise, this corner of the floor will become a place of destruction rarely seen outside the battlefields at the northern borders.

  The duel lasted a whole hour and ended in a draw, with neither of them giving up. They sit for a quarter of an hour or so, looking at each other. Finally, both of them stood up and they went in opposite directions. The Emperor Scorpion went to the nearby cave, and the King went to the waiting sun elves.

  “The challenge ended in a draw.” The king announced. “Both of us recognize each other's strength, and we agreed that even fighting to the death, it wouldn’t answer the question of who is stronger. And because of that, we swear that we both will come to each other's help when one of us faces a powerful foe.”

  Everyone gathered was confused. Draw, but which ended with a mutual oath?

  “I, Grand Priest Tarron, recognize this challenge to be concluded. While it ended in a draw, it also showed warrior Alduin’s strength and wisdom. It was the same situation that led rebels in the past to forget the gods' teachings. Their pride did not allow them to understand that there is always a warrior or beast stronger than them. But our king knows that. He recognizes his limits and is wise enough to know that there are situations when we need to stand our ground, no matter the cost. And there are times when we need to accept our defeat regardless of our pride.”

  The Grand Priest’s words caused a complete shift in the gathered sun elves' mood. All of them accepted the outcome of the duel. On the faces of a few, there was a hint of shame.

  “Well. I know that pride is important for all of you, but for me, it only matters that there wasn’t a fight to the death. We just had a few dates, and I still need to gather courage to ask him for more.” Naomi commented, trying to lighten the mood, and she more or less succeeded. Some chuckled, others just smiled at her inappropriate comments. Grand Priest discreetly nodded at her approvingly.

  “So, can you explain to me how this oath between you and Emperor Scorpion works? I understood that when you are fighting one of my champions, you can call him. But what about the opposite situation?” Naomi asked, curious, while she, Alduin, and Itylara met after sunset at dinner.

  “It was a fancy way to tell I need to do what I'm already doing. I command people who guard the desert, and by extension, you. And when some real threat appears, we will both face it standing side by side.”

  “What? But you will call him for help anyway.”

  “Yes. But spirit beasts are praidful creatures, and the Emperor Scorpion had every right to be proud of his strength. And neither of us can say I just passed. It will mean I’m better than him when I’m not. But he recognizes my strength and will to stand by your side. So we agree to help each other.”

  “I can’t believe it. My own creatures plotting behind my back? Is that even possible?”

  “I think the reason is the way you create your dungeon. Normally, the dungeon master asks for something, and it appears. But you create the past of every object. Some of them you build personally. That makes them more real. And apparently it’s enough to push some of your creatures beyond mindless beasts.” Itylara answered.

  “So I overdid again.” Naomi sighed, and Alduin, with Itylara, laughed.

  King Alduin chose the golem guardian of the tenth floor as a training opportunity for him and Emperor Scorpion. Over the course of one week, they completed the challenge four times. They weren’t fighting alone. The sun elves and adventurers were fighting with them, too. The first appearance of the gigantic scorpion caused panic among the people, who weren’t aware of King Alduin's recent success. Two days later, there wasn’t even one person who didn’t know, and on the second try, the arena was full of people wanting to see such a magnificent beast.

  Next week, after a lot of preparations and gathering people strong enough to risk a fight with the bear golem from the fifteenth floor, King Alduin and Emperor Scorpion lead them to battle. The gigantic spirit beast used its pincers and chitin armour to pin down the golem. King Alduin used two spears for attack that destroyed the golem on the fifth floor. Here, it only loosened some armour plates. Mages bombarded the guardian with various spells to make more cracks in the armour, which warriors later used to destroy machinery inside.

  When the golem was finally destroyed, all gathered were celebrating. Even the Emperor scorpion raised his pincers and was clicking with them. Naomi, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. There were a few wounded, and one adventurer broke his arm, but with healing potions and healing magic, all of them will be fine.

  “Time to see what craziness our Dungeon Mistress pulled this time,” Eriser said while checking his backpack.

  “Yes. We've lost some time, but we may finally be able to fulfill her wish to end this war.” The King Alduin nodded.